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Dow Jones Pact
Would Protect
Three Top Editors

By

Sarah Ellison

Updated July 3, 2007 11:59 p.m. ET

The agreement on editorial independence that Dow Jones & Co. and prospective acquirer News Corp. hammered out last week after laborious negotiations was designed to preserve a measure of journalistic autonomy for The Wall Street Journal and other Dow Jones publications by shielding top editors from corporate meddling.

But the document's power relies less on specific language than on how those editors -- and the new owner -- exercise influence. The agreement isn't as detailed as, say, a rule book for a sports event:...